History of Venere Azzurra bathing establishment

Pertuso Lido Venere

Venere Azzurra in 1900

This picture shows the bathing establishment of Venere Azzurra , in the Travala area , at the beginning of the twentieth century. The fashion for sea bathing was starting to grow all over the coast , both on open beaches and in bathing establishments .In time, the nickname Travela, disappears from use and the name of the bathing establishment, Venere Azzurra, is used to refer to the resort area.

This picture highlights the development in the building of bathing establishments in the first years of the twentieth century.

The buildings were wooden, on metal supports and they were not only well designed for their purpose but attractive, adding to the beauty of the area, as can be seen in the photo of the “Venere Azzurra” establishment.

(foto anno 1906)

From the outset, the Travala beach was considered the beach of Pugliola (a characteristic village on the hill above Lerici) therefore it is no surprise that the first lifeguards were natives of Pugliola. (pugiuan).

The village of Pugliola was reached by a path , which still exists and led down to the seafront itself.

The splendour of the Venere Azzurra complex declined during the final years of the war.
Here it was the custom to boil sea water for the crystallisation of salt and the wood or the building was a very valuable commodity then.

One of the first lifeguards of the post-war period was Ritovato Baistrocchi, who, with only a few beach umbrellas, started to rent out equipment, an activity which grew in the years to come. Beach cleaning and rescue services were the responsibility of the local council and the staff were provided by them.
In the 1960’s, Giamba Manfredi, also from Pugliola ,was “Bagnino” par excellence, and is still held in high regard

In 1959, Paolino first appeared (in photo opp). He had the great idea to invest in equipment and formed a partnership with Ritrovato which lasted for many years until the old bagnino was forced to retire on grounds of age. Paolino, however, still continues the hard work!

The seabed is deep and sandy in this bay, which has always encouraged fishing with nets. The fishermen sold the fish the moment they were caught straight from the beach itself.

The council lifeguards were assisted by “angels of the sea”, lifeguards from the State Police, who in the 1960’s had a bathing establishment on the rocks to the west of Venere Azzurra. In the mid ‘70’s, the building was dismantled and it was to be fifteen years later before Venere Azzurra acquired a new base, adapted to meet the needs of the growing tourist trade.

In 1992 a concession was granted to a private company to create a new beach complex, complete with all the necessary requirements.